Photos via Lyn Santiago
Daniel Soulliard joined the Navy back in 2009 and spent time being shuffled around until one day he got stationed in Kaneohe, Hawaii. Up until this point he thought his dream of owning a GTI would have to be put off for an eternity, but he quickly settled himself in and decided to jump on the occasion by purchasing a relatively humble 2010 GTI. It wouldn’t be staying low-key forever…Daniel wasted very little time as ideas that were filling his mind for months spilled out all at once in a short period of time. He knew he had to set her apart from the rest, and the first step to doing that was by tweaking the motor.Out with the old and in with an upgraded K04 turbo with a CTS intercooler and tweaked the ECU with an APR reflash. Black anodized J-Caps, Clutch Masters FX300 clutch, AP Tuning noise pipe delete and Carbonio intake seal the deal and put his GTI in a position of power.The heart of Daniel’s ride got a jump-start, the next step was making her pretty. OEM R-Line LED tail lights and VWVortex Ed LED headlights lay nestled inside a shaved hood and trunk. Coupled with a 35th Anniversary GTI front bumper and Golf .:R side-skirts, this dream GTI was starting to shape up pretty well.Tweaking the power and body was one thing but in order to take the GTI to the next level a complete AccuAir E-level management system with a manual Switchspeed Touchpad went in. Next up were the pumps, the front is equipped with Air Lift XL Slam Series bags and the rear got a taste of a set of Slam Specialties SS5 mated to Dorbritz D-Cups. All of this is tied to a 3-gallon pancake tank that supplies air from the lungs of his beast to the floor every time he hits a button.Time to ice the cake and get all that power on the asphalt. Daniel hit up CCW and ordered a set of custom 17X9 front and 17×10 rear LM20 wheels. The lips were painted gloss black and the centers matte grey with anodized CCW center caps to complete the ride that has consumed his every waking moment for years.Big thanks go out to the TFO family for their constant support throughout this build and a special mention goes out to Auto Service and Performance for the paint and body work. Daniel would also like to thank all the guys from the Friday night Euro car meets (Edition 808) who always keep him motivated and focused on making this black mamba spit its poison.